Usage based ADSL, the right way
Vietnam has however managed to introduce a similar usage based pricing system but one which will satisfy most Internet users. Users pay for what they use, with a price differentiation between off-peak and peak hours. There is also a price cap on the service for usage over a certain value.
Vietnamnet reports that the charges for off-peak hours (from 7pm to 7am) on the 512Kbps/256Kbps and 768Kbps/384Kbps packages are ‘capped’ at VND27 for the first 3,000 Mb, and VND25 for each following Mb.
The total subscription and usage charges will however be capped at VND350,000-VND550,000/month depending on connection speed. The charges for peak hours are VND45 for the first 3,000 Mb and VND41 for the following Mb, while all-in charges are capped at VND250,000 to VND450,000 per month.
The high VND figures may sound alarming among users who are used to Telkom’s pricing, but in rand terms it is very affordable. 3 000 MB of off-peak data, for example, costs around R 30-00 while the 512 Kbps service’s price cap is a mere R 94-00. This freedom provides for a true broadband experience.
Vietnam is also far ahead of Telkom regarding ADSL service speeds. Their premier service is a 4.096Kbps/640Kbps ADSL offering which carries a subscription price of R 190-00 and a usage cost of R 0-015 per MB.
Capping usage charges is not uncommon internationally, but locally it is very foreign. Telkom is currently using a near linear pricing scale which makes high bandwidth usage very expensive.
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